Falling Into You
by karry4harry
Summary: "Well, I have to get my big speech sorted and plus, you'll never know what interesting person you'll bump into while pacing and rehearsing a speech…" I trailed off when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around me. "Hmmm...My thoughts exactly."


A/N: Hi everyone. This is just a little one shot that I wrote for my dear friend. She's very nicely granted me permission to share it with you all. For my existing readers, I'm not neglecting Page Turner and a new chapter should be headed your way soon. Just think of this as an _extra_ New Year's gift. I hope you enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: Twilight and it's characters are the creation and property of Stephenie Meyer. I just enjoy playing with her creations.**

**Copyright karry4harry 2010**

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_Falling Into You_

If it weren't for the DJ's equipment positioned in the corner of the room, I might have actually thought that I'd been transported through time. I stood, tucked away in the corner, wine glass in hand, away from everyone else, just observing the beauty of the room before me. Elegantly dressed tables, with beautiful centrepieces of delicate, pastel coloured flowers stood out against the backdrop of an entire wall of sandstone, which was the room's most prominent feature. I longed to remove the glove from my hand and run my fingertips along the grainy surface and think of all those from the past who had done the same. The rich timber framed windows that stood out against the sandstone were really windows to the past. Yes. The Eclipse Room of Twilight House was a gorgeous setting for an important occasion. Alice had outdone herself. I thought her eighteenth birthday had been amazing, but this – her twenty-first birthday party - was sure to be spectacular and the evening hadn't even really started.

As was Alice's way, we had arrived fashionably early. We'd been transported here in the luxury of a pink Hummer, which was something that I thought I'd never do, but it had been an experience and a half.

I took a sip of my white wine and observed Alice flurrying around the room in what I'd deemed her "Glinda Dress" – her love for the musical Wicked most apparent from her attire. I chuckled to myself, while shaking my head.

_She's had this thing planned since this time last year and she is still ensuring that everything is perfect and up to her standards._

I must have been chuckling a little bit louder than I thought, because Alice soon stood in front of me.

"What has you so amused, Sweetie?" Alice challenged me to answer with her eyes. I smiled at her, before relenting.

"You, of course, Glinda." Alice rolled her eyes at me before I continued. "You can calm down a bit and just enjoy the party. After all, we are old maids, now." I tipped my glass in her direction and spoke in mock sincerity.

Apparently, single women who had yet to even be on a date by the age of twenty-one were to be deemed old maids. It wasn't that I hadn't had the opportunity to date. An extremely attentive guy in one of my college courses had expressed his interest. I just couldn't reciprocate and so Michael Newton had soon set his puppy dog eyes on Jessica Stanley – who was supposed to be coming this evening. No doubt Mike would be her date.

I kept my eyes trained on Alice. My diminutive friend - in stature alone - was entirely too pretty, much too lovely and brimming with too much personality to be in the same boat as me – the plain Jane with long brown hair, a pale complexion and brown eyes. It was all too easy for me to understand my single status, but incomprehensible to understand Alice's.

In all of my pondering, Alice had remained silent and I could see her sparkling blue eyes scrutinising my expression.

Eventually, Alice smiled at me and some of her black, curled hair bobbed as she tilted her head at me, questioningly.

I answered her unspoken thoughts, "Your words, not mine."

"Nope, they're my Mom's words," Alice corrected.

"Well, according to your mother, then, I'm definitely an old maid. You, at least, have the remainder of the evening to escape being called one. Are any of the waiters attractive?" I said, facetiously.

Alice took the wine glass from my hand and placed it at my seat on the "old maid" table.

"Come with me to the bathroom, Sweetie? I want to go before everyone else starts arriving." Understanding Alice's reasoning, I carefully followed her and meandered my way around different tables until we reached the hallway. The clicks of our high heels were a prominent sound in the empty hall, until the faint sound of pop music soon reached our ears. I looked in the direction the music was coming from and noticed a sign saying "The Midnight Room."

"It seems like the wedding is in full swing," Alice said, peering around me to regard the beautiful white lilies by the door, before sighing dreamily. It wasn't that hard to know what she was fantasizing about. Since the day I had met her at Forks High School four years ago, I knew that Alice had always dreamed of being the gushing bride. I'm sure if I'd moved to live with my father earlier in life, I would have been forced to dress Barbie's as brides by using tissues and match each of them up with their perfect, plastic Ken. As a child she'd directed Barbie's parties and, as an adult, she was gaining the qualifications to plan any well-to-do event. If tonight was anything to go by, she would be a standout event planner.

Alice looked at me strangely as I smiled to myself, but soon shrugged and moved to push the bathroom door open. We didn't make our way that far into the bathroom before we had to stop.

_A women's bathroom wouldn't be a women's bathroom without a queue. _

Finally, having done our business, we moved to exit the bathroom and entered the hallway – me replacing my black gloves and smoothing out the satiny pink "Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend dress" that Alice had insisted I wear. I held the door open for Alice so she could manoeuvre her hooped dress without touching any part of the bathroom door and then followed her out. In the small moment I had taken my eyes off her, Alice had ended up in a pile on the floor, tangled with someone wearing a black tux.

Before I could bend down to offer her some assistance, the person in the tux had moved to support her and assist her in standing up.

"I'm so sorry! You think I'd pay more attention to where I was going. I guess it wasn't a good idea to pace outside a girl's bath… room." The rich, masculine voice that could only belong to "Tux man" faltered slightly when he met Alice's eyes. I wasn't surprised to see Alice gazing at him, cheeks aflame, as well.

_The guy was attractive_.

He was probably in his mid-twenties and his honey blonde hair had been gelled into a smart do, but little strands of hair fought against the gel to poke out over his forehead. His eyes were a gorgeous blue colour and they glowed as he smiled and showed his tiny dimples to Alice, who had the most perfect vantage point. It was hard to tell what was cuter – the way he was gazing down at Alice from his five foot elevenish height or the little clef in his clean shaven chin. Eventually, Alice spoke in an almost inaudible voice.

"That's okay, but you're right. It's not a good idea to pace outside a girl's bathroom."

"Gorgeous guy" smiled and his lips quivered with indecision before he spoke. He never removed his hands from Alice's arms.

"Well, I'm very sorry. Can I make it up to you? …" When Alice didn't jump in, I did.

"…Alice." Both Alice and "gorgeous guy's" heads turned my way, as my presence was finally noticed. I smiled before stepping forward and extending my hand to "gorgeous guy", hoping to finally find out his name.

"I'm Bella and you are?" From the corner of my eye, I could see Alice giving me what I would describe as a not-so-subtle filthy glare.

I ignored it.

"Gorgeous guy" removed one of his hands from Alice's arm before grasping my hand.

_Hmmm… a nice solid handshake. Tick!_

"I'm Jasper. It's nice to meet you Bella, Alice." He turned his gaze back to Alice on saying her name.

_Nice name, too. Tick!_

Curious, I asked, "What were you pacing for?"

Jasper's head snapped my way and he thought for a moment, as though awoken from some previous ponderings, before responding.

"Oh. I'm best man at that wedding in there – it's my sister's - and… err… I was trying to get my speech right. You know?" Jasper rambled.

Alice jumped in.

"I'm sure that you would give a great speech, Jasper," she said, her tone caressing the syllables of his name. Their eyes met once again and they smiled nervously at one another.

I watched on in amusement.

"Thank you, Alice," Jasper almost whispered, his cheeks now aflame.

"Alice…" A voice called from down the hallway. "People are arriving… where is she?" As the voice got louder, I was able to identify it as belonging to Alice's mom – Mrs Brandon.

Alice turned back and forth before bumbling out, "I've got to go. Umm… bye, Jasper." Her voice trailed off as she disappeared around the corner. I looked at Jasper and saw that his eyes were trained on the spot that she had disappeared from.

_Now's your chance to add to Alice's birthday present._

"Jasper, do you like coffee?"

-()-()-()-

"Bella, what are you doing out here? You'll wear a hole in the floor if you keep pacing like that!"

I stopped my movements and turned around in response to Alice's voice. She looked so happy. Her face was aglow with joy and the crystals on her gleaming white dress shone in the moonlight. As she touched my hand, I registered the feel of the cool, smooth bands that graced her ring finger, connecting her to the person that she had _fallen_ for all those years ago.

"What are _you_ doing out here? You should be inside enjoying your evening." I smiled in Alice's direction.

"I am enjoying my evening. That's why I came to find you. I want to thank you for everything." She exhaled before saying, "Thanks for setting me up on that coffee date…"

Carefully stepping forward, I bent down and gently hugged Alice, careful not to ruin her dress or my floor length, burgundy, maid of honour dress.

"That's okay. Who'd have thought that love could be so caffeinated," I said with a wink as I withdrew from the hug. We chuckled together recalling our love of the song Taylor the Latte Boy.

"That sounds like a line that waiter at the café would have used. What was his name again?" Alice asked, chuckling. "I can't believe I've forgotten this!"

I smiled to myself, reminiscing on a day that would forever be engrained in my memory.

-()-()-()-

The smell of freshly ground coffee permeated the air. Glass cabinets housed an assortment of delectable tarts, cakes and biscuits that cried out to be devoured. Small booths filled the floor space, creating a very intimate dining area amongst the hustle and bustle of the busy Seattle shopping mall.

I found myself sitting in one of these small booths at the very back of the café, with my laptop in front of me, glancing at its clock every few seconds. I was quite aware that Alice would be arriving any moment – she had never been late in all the years that I'd known her - and I had yet to see Jasper sitting in the booth that I had reserved across from the entrance.

My head was heavy with exhaustion. Adrenalin could only do so much to alleviate my weariness, brought on by a night of no sleep. The little dorm room I occupied at the University of Washington didn't have walls thick enough to drown out the argument and resultant make up session of my neighbour and her boyfriend. As much as I could blame my lack of sleep on such noises, I couldn't ignore the fact that my nerves over what I'd organised today were also partially to blame. These nerves were also responsible for my fingers lightly tapping against the keyboard uselessly. The word document I had opened still remained blank.

_How are you supposed to write anything when you're like this?_

I was tempted to close the laptop, knowing that writing would seem like a chore instead of a hobby today, but soon realised that the laptop lid would help shield me from a pair of certain blue eyes. I glanced around the shop, but the only other patron was a person to my left whose face was buried behind a newspaper.

_Where the hell is Jasper?_

Just as I'd thought the words, the blonde haired gentleman entered the shop and approached a waitress, while tentatively scanning the filled tables. I smiled when he looked in my direction as he took his seat. There was nothing in his expression to suggest that he had recognised my thick mane of brown hair, which was surely peeking up above the laptop. Then again, he'd only seen me once before – the night of the party. We'd organised this particular rendezvous over the phone.

I hadn't stopped to think before I'd asked for Jasper's details to try and get him and Alice to spend more time together. Knowing Alice and my love of a good caffeine hit, a meeting over coffee seemed natural. Jasper had readily embraced my suggestion and had been all too willing to provide me with his contact details after I assured him that Alice wouldn't mind. The guy seemed to be a gentleman and when Alice had merely blushed at my implication that she liked Jasper, I knew that I was making the right decision in setting them up. At her party, it had surprised me when Alice hadn't raced into that wedding to dance the night away with the gorgeous, ogle worthy guy that she'd rather fortunately toppled over. I was shocked beyond belief when Miss Chatterbox herself became tight lipped and rosy cheeked anytime I mentioned the incident. I was stunned when "Bella Swan: Matchmaker" suddenly appeared. Although, as I spied on Jasper from across the café, I decided I was rather enjoying being a matchmaker.

_Hey, if the writing or English teaching thing doesn't work out you might have something to fall back on._

I chuckled to myself as I focused in on Jasper and noticed his twiddling thumbs and bouncing leg. Suddenly, he stilled and I followed his line of sight to see my pixie friend, Alice, enter the café. Her eyes immediately found their way to our regular table. As soon as her eyes fell upon its unexpected occupant, her whole demeanour stilled and I could make out her flushed cheeks from my point of observation. A smile lifted my cheeks when Jasper hesitantly stood and approached Alice, uttering words inaudible to me, before helping her into her seat. These careful actions and Alice's responding smile warmed my heart and I sank back into my seat with a sigh.

"Well, I was going to ask if I could get you anything, but you seem rather… content," a warm, masculine voice spoke breaking through my reflections. I looked up quickly and was greeted with the wide, gleaming smile of an individual with russet coloured skin and cropped black hair. He held a pen and notepad in his hands and I then noticed he was wearing a café uniform. All in all, he was fairly attractive.

"_Can_ I get you anything?" He grinned even wider, having met my eyes. His grin made my skin tingle. Unsure of what I was feeling, I looked down at my keyboard, momentarily and chewed on my lip as I contemplated what I wanted to order. My tired eyes were crying out for a good hit of caffeine.

"Um… I'll have a long black, please," I said, smiling and meeting the waiter's dark eyes. I was taken aback when the guy pulled out the chair opposite me and took a seat, smirking. My breathing hitched.

"Err… what do you think you're doing?" I queried with a scrunched up face.

"Waiter guy" leant forward and rested his forearms on the table, after closing my laptop lid. I'm pretty sure my eyebrows had risen so high that they'd met my hairline.

"Well, you ordered a _long black_ and I'm _fulfilling_ your order," he said, too cockily.

"I'm failing to connect your actions to what I ordered," I responded directly, the muscles of my jaw tensing.

The smile didn't leave his face. I didn't like the fact that he seemed to be enjoying himself far too much. Never taking his eyes off me, he pointed to the nametag attached to his shirt.

A bit perplexed by the guy's behaviour, my curiosity got the better of me and I focused my eyes on the small print.

JACOB BLACK

I froze as I realised the implication of his earlier words. I tried to force my wide eyes to not look in the direction that my mind was going. Obviously realising the meaning behind my expression, Jacob started chuckling to himself. His muscular frame shook the table.

Eventually regaining my composure and, not being too impressed with his sexual innuendos and, what most would regard as unprofessionalism, I decided to hit him _below the belt,_ so to speak.

"I can't see how my order has been satisfied. I didn't order a _weak_, long black."

Jacob's face instantly changed. The smile that had found a home on his face had suddenly been transported to mine. I got immense pleasure when he tentatively stood up and addressed me more respectfully.

"I'll… ah… I'll get that coffee for you," he mumbled, before hurrying back to the counter.

Instantly, I brought my hand to my mouth to try and muffle the laughter that was dying to escape me.

_Yes. You go and get me my coffee, asshole!_

I chanced a peek in Alice and Jasper's direction and was enjoying seeing them laughing between sips of coffee when a smooth, commanding voice broke through my reverie.

"Do you always scare off potential suitors, or just the ones with extremely bad pickup lines?"

I turned in search of the source of the voice. I soon realised that the voice's owner was hidden behind the front page of the New York Times. I stared at the paper perplexedly, eventually finding my voice.

"Was that your attempt at a pickup line?"

Everything seemed to slow down as the paper was carefully lowered to reveal the face behind the voice.

"Well, yes… yes, it was."

Those words echoed around in my mind as I became lost in kind, deep green eyes.

-()-()-()-

Alice snapped me out of my recollections with a squeal of delight, which did nothing to settle my already thumping heart.

"It was something to do with black, wasn't it?"

"Yes. Black. Long Black," I said in my best James Bond impersonation. Alice and I burst into giggles.

Through our chuckles, Alice turned to me with an inquisitive expression. Noticing a small strand of black hair that had freed itself from her impeccable hairdo, I stilled myself and moved to fix it.

"You never answered my question," Alice eventually said. "What are you doing out here and what's with all the pacing?"

For show, I began pacing again.

"Well, I have to get my big speech sorted and plus, you'll never know what interesting person you'll bump into while pacing and rehearsing a speech…" I trailed off when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around me, bringing me back to rest against a strong chest and I felt at home.

"Hmmm… my thoughts exactly," a beautiful voice I knew all too well said against my hair.

"Don't distract my bridesmaid, Edward! I'm not letting Jessica touch the microphone again after the stunt she pulled at my twenty-first," Alice said in mock seriousness. I peered up into Edward's face and brushed a strand of his distinctive bronze hair out of his eyes.

"Oh, you're too harsh on her, Alice! From the video footage I've seen it was actually a really good speech." Edward smirked and began to sway in time to the soft big band music emanating from inside the Midnight Suite and I followed his movements, inhaling the tantalising scent that was all his own.

_Honey, vanilla, sandalwood…_

"Well, you better give a good speech…" Alice spoke in my direction, snapping me out of my Edward induced haze. I soon cut her off.

"Alright, alright… go back inside and be with your groom." Alice raised her eyebrows at me and lowered her head to indicate Edward's hands wrapped around my waist. I gave her a look that said in no uncertain terms that I'd deal with this distraction.

"Alice, hun, it's time to get prepared for the toasts," Jasper poked his head out of the door, offering a knowing smile and wave in Edward and my direction, before ushering a dazed Alice back inside, gently placing his hand on the small of her back. It was a joy to see them so happy and to see Alice so cared for and to know that I'd had a part to play in their joy.

With Alice satisfied, I turned myself around in Edward's arms and gazed into my fiancé's haunting, deep green eyes.

"Edward, would you mind waiting for me inside? I just need a few minutes to compose myself and prepare. I want to give Alice the best speech I can." Edward smiled down at me before kissing me on the forehead. I relished the touch and felt a pang of disappointment when his warm lips didn't linger on my skin.

"I know you'll give a brilliant speech no matter what. Your wit and quick thinking is what attracted me to you." I smiled up into the loving, deep green irises that had captured me the moment they'd been revealed from behind that newspaper. Ever so slightly, they drew closer and closer to me until they disappeared and Edward's warm soft lips met my own. A current spread through my body, all the way to my toes stirring up the most wonderful feelings of comfort and peace nestled with longing and desire. Just as I was about to deepen the kiss, I felt Edward still and I pouted as I was robbed of his lips. Our foreheads touching, Edward recognised my frown and whispered in an amused tone, "But I'll wait for you inside."

_Tease._

He ran one of his long, elegant fingers down the side of my face and I closed my eyes and leant into his touch.

"Just don't keep me waiting too long. You still owe me my dance." Opening my eyes, I watched as Edward moved backwards towards the door, pointing at me with his index finger, and I couldn't help but admire how nice he looked in a tux.

"I hope you're prepared for an injury," I said sincerely. "I don't know how many times I've tried to tell you that I suck at dancing."

Edward's mouth formed his signature crooked grin that never failed to captivate me.

"And I don't know how many times I'm going to have to reiterate that it's all in the leading."

I raised a challenging eyebrow.

"By the way, I brought this glass of wine out for you." Edward collected the wine glass from the small table by the door and placed it in my left hand. "But perhaps I should have brought you a long black." His fingers grazed the white gold band on my ring finger, delicately, before he winked at me and returned inside.

My heart all aflutter I took a sip of wine and tried to still myself as I gazed inside at the room before me.

Elegantly dressed tables, with beautiful centrepieces of delicate, pastel coloured flowers stood out against the backdrop of an entire wall of sandstone, which was the room's most prominent feature. If it weren't for the DJ's equipment positioned in _that _corner of the room, I might have actually thought that I'd been transported through time.

A lot can happen in four years…

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It's my first attempt at AH. I'd love to know what you think._** I respond to every review.**_

All the best,

Karry.


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